Vichy Archives - My Women Stuff

French Pharmacy Skincare Finds at the famed Pharmacie City Pharma in Paris

July 15, 2016 Paris B 44 Comments

Bonjour mes amis!

I’m back from Paris, and if you had joined me on my trip on Instagram and Snapchat, I hope you enjoyed it! I was on my own a lot of the time so it was nice having you along! Now, I was in Paris for a beauty related event, but it didn’t stop this beauty buff from keeping her eyes peeled for OTHER beauty brands and products. Oh yes, I have to admit to a roving eye when it comes to beauty!

And we all know that French pharmacy stocks some of the better, affordable beauty products out there don’t we? You don’t? Ah, now you do! My skin takes incredibly well to many French pharmacy brands and formulations of skincare, which is why over the years, I eventually moved away from Asian skincare and American brands. It’s a personal preference and it’s not a recent thing, but been going on a while. I mix it up a little more now, but if I’m trying something new, I usually know that a European or French brand would likely work better for me.

City Pharmacie aka City Pharma at 26 Rue Four, 75006 Paris (Corner of Rue Four and Rue Bonaparte Metro: Saint Germain des Près (Line 4) or Mabillon (Line 10))

There are pharmacies on almost every corner in Paris. Some are larger and better stocked than others. But almost all carry the major French brands – Vichy, La Roche Posay, Avene, Nuxe, Bioderma, Caudalie etc. Before I went, I did my research and while it was easy to find most of the products and brands I was interested in most pharmacies, the one I kept coming across as a must-visit was City Pharma at Rue Four.

I’m not quite sure if City Pharma (or Citypharma) is a chain, but I came across another in the Tolbiac area (Metro: Tolbiac), when I was there for Vietnamese Pho (oh yes, I ate pho in Paris and it was among the best I’ve ever had! 😀 ) But the one you want to visit is the City Pharma at Rue Four because in this store, the prices can be significantly cheaper than in others! It’s even a bit cheaper than the one in Tolbiac which shares the same name. I’m not sure why this is so, but it’s an open secret because the store was HEAVING with people when I arrived at about 3.30pm. Oh dear!

Your Say: What skincare are you using day and night? Here is mine!

July 23, 2013 Paris B 104 Comments

Last year, I shared some of the skincare I was using on a daily basis and 2 years ago, I shared my day and night skincare routine. I thoroughly enjoyed how everyone chipped in to share all of your day and night routines too! I thought it would be interesting to revisit it annually and see how far or not we have come and whether my and your routine have been working for you.

Towards the end of 2012, and in early 2013 my skin went crazy. I had a lot of problems with breakouts and for some reason, everything went out of control. I didn’t even change my skincare which really puzzled me. What I did then was to pare back my skincare to the bare minimum – cleanse, tone and moisturise. Slowly, I got things under control and then, I started getting back into a routine.

It might interest you to know that for the most part, I have been using this range of skincare day and night for at least 6 months now in various combinations and I’ve had the best skin that I’ve ever had in all my years *touchwood*! Granted, it’s not flawless nor perfect, but it’s the best I’ve ever had, I can walk out without makeup if I wanted to (imperfections and all) and that makes me very happy.

So here is my present skincare routine and some quick notes on what I might change or switch out as I go along. I can’t say I’ll be using this same routine in another 6 months, but who knows eh? Do share your routine too! Has it changed from a year ago? Is your skin doing better now than it was 6 or 12 months ago?

Paris Picks! My Top 5 Favourite Skincare Items that stand the test of time

June 27, 2013 Paris B 73 Comments

Fact is, ladies and gents, I have used loads… and I mean LOADS of different skincare in my time. It’s part of the reason I started blogging it. I wanted to share how the different products out there have worked, or not, for me. Who knew that it would blow up the way it did! 🙂

But over the years, I’ve been whittling back down my skincare arsenal and I can safely, hand on heart tell you, that I have found some faves that I am willing and happy to repurchase over and over. In fact, I have. In fact also, these are skincare I have been using over the past 6 months – some even longer – they are staples in my skincare regimen and I have found them to be so good, I’m actually loathe to switch out any one of them.

Yes, I’ve only found 5 to date. What does that make me? Extremely loyal? Extremely fickle? Or just Extremely picky? 😛

Before I unveil them, see if you can hazard a guess as to what they are. For a couple of them, the packaging shape is a giveaway and I think one might surprise you 😉 Got your guesses ready? Here they are in my first (and a possibly sporadic feature) Paris Picks! :D.

Finally! The Breakdown of What is in that Epic Cosmetics Travel Kit!

June 6, 2012 Paris B 72 Comments

A while ago, I showed you a birds eye view of the epically large cosmetics kit that I packed ostensibly for travel. Firstly, I’d just like to say that if I were truly travelling for work or even for a holiday, I never pack a kit this massive. My travel cosmetics kits fit in 1 pouch and usually look something like this.

what is in the epic cosmetics trvael kit

This time however, I was headed home for my brother’s wedding and I knew I had to look good so I could not risk a breakout or reactions to new products, and I also knew that I’d be sharing all sorts of stuff with my sister who had warned me that she wasn’t packing anything so could I just bring extra? Ah yes, sisters 🙂

So I packed full sizes of almost everything and packed exact products of skincare I had been using at the time. The bag turned out to be extremely large and probably weighed about 5kg 😛 I could be exaggerating, I’m not sure. But here’s what went in there.